Chapter 213: Life and Leech

"It was a decent use of your abilities, I must say," Madam Rizenne spoke; the attention of all the students fell on her. "You took 23 minutes, 54 seconds to finish a Tier 1 Frenzy Beast. Two Area Controllers, two Line Controllers, and four Observers, all included took this long to kill an Observer."

Her calm voice and the tone she used made the students embarrassed, bowing their heads in shame. "Now, I am not criticising you. Remember that everything we prepare you for is to help better your survival rate out in the Wilds. In the Wilds, you will oftentimes face Frenzy Beasts of a higher Tier, not to mention having to face against more than one such being."

Her voice turned soft, "Our only objective is to turn you into elites capable of battling against foes of a higher Tier. The academy has plenty of resources to help foster your abilities. So, make use of them to the full extent. You won't get such chances once you graduate. This is your final three months here, and by far, the most important phase."

"The foundation you build here will determine your future growth," There was a faint rumble in the back, following her voice. Two Frenzy Beasts flew, carried by her psychic arm before being dropped on the stage. "Now, try again. This time, I want more of you to participate."

The Frenzy Beast dropped this time consisted of Life Leeches, both Observers. At Tier 1, Espers were pitifully weak, including humans and Frenzy Beasts, so they weren't brought out. The two Life Leeches smelled the scent of blood, crawling their way towards the carcass of the One-horned Rhino.

They wriggled their bodies, grotesque, and disgusting, crawling forth on the ground before making contact with the pool of blood.

"Keeee," Coming into contact with the Essence of Frenzy mixed into the blood, they let out shrill screams. Their skin began to burn a little, affected by the corrosive properties of the Essence of Frenzy.

The two Life Leeches opened their mouths, touching the floor before sucking the blood. They sucked the blood in their vicinity, causing their bodies to bulge as a whole. Their shrill screams came to a stop; their bodies trembled continuously, the process constant.

"Their Essence of Frenzy will change a little now, after the Frenzy Parasite in them absorbs it while Nurturing their bodies." Madam Rizenne's voice echoed, "This is why it is difficult to create a countermeasure against the Essence of Frenzy. The Essence of Frenzy in each Frenzy Beast is unique, and is also constantly evolving as they devour the bodies of other Frenzy Beasts."

"Whenever it achieves a qualitative change, the Frenzy Beast experiences an upgrade in its physique, becoming an elite among its brethren. This is also one of the reasons for their constant war against all living beings." Madam Rizenne sighed, "We have yet to verify this claim, the research is still ongoing on this topic. But, we hypothesise the Essence of Frenzy is one of the reasons that cause their evolution and allow new races to be birthed."

"You have 60 minutes to kill the two of them." Once she said her piece, Madam Rizenne turned silent. She then began to converse with Madam Mila, the topic of their conversation inaudible to others, thanks to the information exchange being filtered by a psychic energy barrier.

The students could only see the mouth of Madam Rizenne moving from time to time. As for Madam Mila, she hovered in the air like a statue. If not for the regular blinking of her eyes, they would have assumed her to be a statue held up by Madam Rizenne.

"How do you propose we kill them?" Jyorta sighed, his conviction now solidified. If one's individuality proves disastrous or troublesome for a situation, it was wise to assume the herd's mentality. At least, it would be a form of moral support.

'To adapt to this cruel world is a difficult process.' Jyorta lamented in his mind, soon focusing on the topic at hand. Once he had firmed his will, he wanted to see things through. Whatever was necessary for him to achieve the objective, he planned to learn.

"From what we know, the bodies of Life Leeches are soft but tough," Ashten Coorg scratched his chin, his cheeks puffed, an action he unconsciously made whenever he was in deep thought. "Their elastic nature and their lack of bones make blunt attacks almost meaningless."

"Yeah," Haesha nodded, "Their organs are also similar to their body, possessing great elasticity and toughness."

"Squashing them into a paste is impossible for the current us," George frowned, "What about their abilities? I don't know about them much. Are they able to use their signature move at Tier 1?"

"Thankfully, they can't," Jyorta replied, "The most they can do is suck our blood. But, they can also wind their bodies around us and crush our bones. So, we have to be careful and avoid getting bitten by them. Also, once bit, our injuries will not form any scabs. They will continue to bleed until we die due to blood loss."

"If anyone of you were to get bit, we can stop the blood loss using our psychic arms. As long as we remove the poison they inject into your bodies, the blood loss ought to stop in a while." Haesha provided her conjecture. She then frowned, glancing at Jyorta, "The question remains, how do we kill them?"

"I remember them possessing a tiny brain, which is their weakness. If we focus our attacks there, we will be able to kill it." Dalna Doppler interjected, watching their actions.

"Yeah," Jyorta raised his little finger, displaying its nail for everyone to see, "The only problem is its brain. It is only the size of my little finger's nail. Also, it is not always positioned in its front end."

Life Leeches possessed long, cylindrical bodies, spanning almost a metre at Tier 1. They had numerous folds along their long bodies, acting as rings, the edges sharp. When a Life Leech coils around someone or brushes past them, these rings scrap their skin, causing the victim to suffer from uncontrollable bleeding. The Life Leech would then suck the victim's blood through the opening.

Life Leech; they were coined as such due to their signature ability, which was to suck the life force out of their victims. It wasn't a mysterious concept. At Tier 3, they nurtured relevant Skills to make it possible.

When they suck the blood of their victim, they target the bone marrow, taking in the stem cells. They also affect the body, limiting the abilities of the cells in it to divide further. It was a Skill directed at cell-division.

A normal cell can divide at most 40-50 times, losing its genetic material each time. The Nurturing process further raises the number of times a cell can divide. As for cancerous cells, they can theoretically divide infinite times, but comes with their own issues.

Humanity possessed a certain Tier 4 Skill that made a body part in focus to change, morphing each cell in it into cancerous cells, making them divide without limit but controlling the place, amount, limit of division. This is how Shifters with the particular Tier 4 Skill were able to regenerate lost body parts. Once finished, the cells reverted to their usual state, normalising the situation.

The Skill of the Life Leech siphons out a crucial cell-division material, reducing the number of times it can divide. They target the bone marrow, the place where stem cells are produced.

Being attacked by the Life Leeches didn't make one old overnight. Neither their appearance nor their physique will experience any change. But, the number of times the cells in their body could divide, and the maximum number of cells capable of being produced in them will differ.

So, someone that was severely affected by the Life Leeches may look alright, but might die a natural death the very next day. It is a result of his body becoming incapable of generating new cells. Once the old cells die, with the new cells not being replenished, their body fails to sustain itself, losing its functions one after another, causing a vicious cycle. Once a significant amount of cells die, the body fails as a whole; the individual then experiences a natural death.

The ways in which the Life Leeches could enact this effect varied, based on the Skills they Nurtured. They gained this ability at Tier 3, with most of the Tier 3 Skills they possessed conforming to this effect, with the mode of action being different. This was how they came to being named the Life Leech.

They also absorbed the genetic material, fusing them into their selves, elevating their bodies to a new level, increasing their life spans, attaining longetivity. This led to them becoming the race that lived the longest.

The Nurturing effect didn't increase the lifespan of an individual, whether human or Frenzy Beast until Tier 3. From Tier 4, there is a mild increase in the lifespan of an individual, though, not by much. The same went for Tier 5. It only resulted in the individual possessing a healthy body until the cells in their body hit their natural cell-division limit.

At Tier 6, it led to a significant increase in the individual's lifespan. This was how the Ancestors, human, and Frenzy Beast alike could live for around 300 years. Even then, depending on their species, they had limits.

The River Whales and the Lava Turtles were one of the species that possessed long life spans even in mortal bodies, not to mention when having attained Tier 6. But, the Life Leeches dwarfed even this, all thanks to their Tier 3 Skills.

As long as they weren't killed, even Developer Life Leeches were capable of outliving Ancestors of humanity.